


Keep that in mind

by Maldoror_Chant



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Light Angst, M/M, Timeline What Timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-31
Updated: 2013-12-31
Packaged: 2020-04-07 05:59:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19078909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maldoror_Chant/pseuds/Maldoror_Chant
Summary: By Maldoror--A badly injured Heero struggles to get the 'braided nuisance' back to the safe-house, even if it costs him his life, though he won't admit the truth to himself...





	Keep that in mind

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Dacia, the archivist: this work was originally archived at [A Little Piece of Gundam Wing](https://fanlore.org/wiki/A_Little_Piece_Of_Gundam_Wing), which closed in 2017. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after July 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [a little piece of gundam wing collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/alittlepieceofgundamwing/profile).
> 
> Author: Maldoror  
> Disclaimer: Do you have to make me repeat it? It's bad enough I don't own them and make no money off of them and have no rights over them whatsoever, do you have to make me sing it as well? *sob*  
> Rated PG  
> One-shot, DEATHFIC (you are warned), drama but still some humour (well Duo is involved).  
> Summary: A badly injured Heero struggles to get the ‘braided nuisance' back to the safe-house, even if it costs him his life, though he won't admit the truth to himself...

Duo blinked at the sky, flat on his back, and wheezed: "Well, that could have gone better... "  
  
Heero wondered how the L2 pilot could speak after such an explosion. The human voice seemed all the more puny and weak after heaven and earth had been ripped apart by apocalyptic forces.  
  
Heaven, earth, and the human body...  
  
"How bad are you?" Duo grunted, trying to move. He gasped, going very, very white.  
  
"Functional." Heero lied. But he wasn't. He was pretty badly damaged. And now Oz would be crawling all over the place. At least their objective had been destroyed and Duo had hit the button like a pro despite the fact they were still too close when they realized the charges had been found and the mission about to fail.  
  
So I can die, now. It flitted through Heero's mind, numb to the pain of shrapnel piercing his body as he leaned against a broken wall.  
  
Then Duo twitched. Trying to roll over.  
  
Heero reached for his gun, automatically checking it. And swore as he realized a piece of shrapnel had damaged the barrel.  
  
He struggled to his feet and staggered over to the braided pilot who glanced up at him through bloody bangs.  
  
"Damn, what will it take to kill you, Yuy... You're tougher'n Wing." Duo coughed and a trickle of blood smeared the grin. Heero couldn't tell how badly he was injured. He looked like he'd taken slightly less of a beating than Heero, but he wasn't as strong.  
  
They stared at each other, the flames from the nearby burning objective the only source of light. The streetlights had been blown out by the force of the explosion. The crackle and roar of the fire seemed hushed in the quiet of night surrounding them.  
  
"Guess you're going to have to try to make a run for it... " Duo muttered, glancing around. He'd stopped trying to move. It was obvious he wouldn't be able to walk. Both his legs had been sliced and broken by shrapnel, the blood from the cuts turning his pants an even deeper black. "You've got a chance of making it back to the others in one piece. Er, several pieces... " Violet eyes glinted with worry for him as they ran over Heero's body and winced in sympathy as the soldier tended his wounds roughly, ignoring the pain, trying to slow down the bleeding. The cuts on his chest and arms he could do something about. The internal injuries, and the wound to the gut... If they could make it to a hospital, or at least back to the rebel camp with the field theatre and Sally's expertise, they might have a chance.  
  
Mission accepted.  
  
It was likely he wouldn't make it. But he was good at taking impossible missions and making them happen. If he could get Duo closer to the camp, within comms range, then at least one of them would make it.  
  
Duo seemed to be following his thoughts with uncanny precision. He hesitated, as if about to say something, then... "Yeah, get us out of here, buddy." He grinned and lifted his arms towards the pilot of Wing.  
  
Heero grunted, leaned over and, completely ignoring the pain tearing at the back of his mind as effectively as the shrapnel had torn at his body, manoeuvred a weakened Duo onto his back.  
  
"You better hold on, Baka. If you can't-" his left arm wasn't working too well, if Duo couldn't hold on, he'd have to leave him behind.  
  
Duo grunted. He'd expected howls of pain from the voluble L2 pilot, but he didn't seem too badly off, apart from the legs, and a wound to the back. He might be going into shock... that would be bad, but there wasn't much Heero could do about it.  
  
Duo coughed once. Strong slim hands wrapped around Heero's shoulders, then slid and knotted themselves thoroughly through the straps in the small pack Heero was still wearing. It contained the carefully packaged processing chips of their destroyed objective. Another good reason to get as far as the rebel camp before dying, Heero thought dully. But... it was strange. Though it should be the primary objective, and much more important than a braided nuisance... he couldn't seem to focus on it.  
  
It was just one more mission. Heero started walking, deliberately slamming his feet to the ground to shock himself out of these unacceptable thoughts, then stopped as he realized it would just increase the haemorrhage, and hurt Duo. ... Just one more mission... just one more thing to chase, to capture, to destroy... it was all another step on the road to peace, and now he realized he was about to leave that road, leave the next steps to others... well, one mission more or less just didn't seem to-  
  
"You're not going to die."  
  
Had-had he said all that aloud?! Damn, he had. Duo's voice sounded very clear in his ear. A small, wet cough moved his hair, then Duo said, still firmly.  
  
"We're going to make it back. You just need to keep walking. And avoid patrols. And make it to the safe-house. And stop bleeding so much. Oh wait, we probably are going to die."  
  
A wheezy raspy chuckle ended in a cough. Duo sighed. "The operative word here being, ‘probably'. Just don't think about it. You're carrying quite the burden already. The whole world, all the colonies, and Duo Maxwell. Don't carry a load of doom as well."  
  
That's easy for you to say, Heero thought dimly. He didn't know how badly the other pilot was hurt, apart from the legs, but as long as he was talking...  
  
"Yeah, that's a sign of life for Maxwell, that is. If his mouth moves-" the voice was weak and crackly.  
  
"Duo, is your gun functional?"  
  
"Er no, lost it. Oops, looks like you can't shoot me."  
  
"I was hoping you could shoot me if we're about to be captured. I can't seem to-" keep my thoughts to myself right now...  
  
"It's okay, buddy. I won't tell anybody." There was a smile in Duo's voice. "I've always known you were more human than you let on."  
  
I'm certainly dying as a human. Weak and reaching out for any kind of contact to stave off the darkness. Heero grimaced.  
  
"Just so you know, Heero... " Duo's voice was suddenly as serious as he'd ever heard him be. He wished he could twist his head around to see what expression went with that voice. "Just so you know... I think you're a great human. And a great friend, though you'd deny it. And I wish... I wish you'd let yourself realize that. I... " The arms around his shoulders tightened slightly before loosening again. "I like you anyway. A lot. Keep that in mind. Keep that in mind... " He'd not needed to repeat it, he'd already made it sound like the most important thing in his life at that point, and Heero found himself believing him. And caring about it as much as he'd ever cared about a mission...  
  
At the back of Heero's mind, a thought, as easily suppressed as the pain ripping his atoms apart, occurred to him. That was as close as anyone had ever gotten to giving him a hug. He should mind. But he didn't have the energy. He had to get them both back to safety. A motorbike!  
  
It was lying on its side, keys in the ignition. Its owner must have left it and ran to safety when the explosion rang out. It was a dinky moped actually, not a bike, its fuel cell quietly humming and occasionally stuttering to itself. Heero leaned down, righted it, and slid on. Duo groaned and managed to shift his weight a bit. Heero gunned the engine, and drove off. They might actually have a chance now... If he didn't pass out from shock and blood loss first.  
  
In his ear, Duo sighed softly.  
  
After a minute his voice echoed again in Heero's ears, just as the perfect soldier was beginning to flag.  
  
"So, I guess we're on a date, now, right?"  
  
Heero nearly fell off the bike. "What?" He hissed, then grimaced. Duo's voice had been very low, and he should keep his down too, the moped's fuel cell was making enough noise already. In the distance, sirens and flashing lights had congregated around the inferno of the exploded objective. They were driving away from the light and into darkness, even the moon was hidden by clouds, or maybe smoke. Soon, somebody would send out a search team to see if the bombers were still around...The tarmac rushed by their wheels, Heero's eyes picking out the twists and turns of the small road as well as he could in the dark. They were away from the buildings now, in open fields. No more cover... but leaving the possibility of pursuit behind. Date?  
  
"Well, I said I liked you and you didn't shoot me. That probably means we're married in Yuy terms, but I like to take things slow on a first date."  
  
"Baka! The only reason I didn't shoot you is because my gun is broken."  
  
"Oh Heero, are you saying you're breaking up with me?"  
  
"Duo, shut up."  
  
"Hm, no. Chances are we're still not going to make it, and if Shinigami has to go, he's going to go out talking."  
  
"And driving me crazy!"  
  
"Die like you live, I say."  
  
"Baka... " Heero felt blood trail down his leg, a tickle of warmth that cooled quickly in the air rushing past them. The muscles in his arms were cramping. He hoped they wouldn't run into any roadblocks. He didn't have the energy to get around them or punch through them.  
  
"Well, we could always try to talk our way through them." Duo's voice smirked. Damn it he was still thinking out loud! Something must have hit him in the head as well... "Hey guys!" Duo chirped at some imaginary OZ soldiers. "We were just playing with a two-gallon can of red paint and had this stupid accident. Can you let us through so we can go clean up?"  
  
"That wouldn't work." Heero said, before realizing that that hadn't been the point. His vision kept dimming. No damn it, he had to get back!  
  
"I still think we're on a date."  
  
"No we're not."  
  
"We just went for a stroll, watched the fire works, and now you're taking me home, and I'm snuggling up against you. All we need now is to run out of gas to make the cliché complete."  
  
Heero cast an alarmed look at the fuel cell indicator. Fortunately it was two thirds of the way full.  
  
"We're not going to run out of power." We'll run out of blood first. But he had to make it at least as far as comms range so the others could come pick them up. Well, pick up Duo. He didn't know if he could live that long. Didn't know if he wanted to...  
  
"Erm Heero, how badly are you hurt?" Duo's voice sounded concerned.  
  
"Still functional." Heero ground out.  
  
"It's just that I used the word snuggling and you didn't send me flying from the bike."  
  
"You weren't stupid enough to put any action to that word."  
  
"Well, no, I'm not suicidal. Unlike some people I know."  
  
"I'm not suicidal."  
  
"Oh no, you're the greatest optimist on earth and in space. You actually think you can blow up inside your Gundam and walk away from it."  
  
"... well I did... "  
  
"Well he did, ladies and gentlemen! The amazing Heeeero Yuy, the man with nine lives! Come on, Heero, it's not normal to detonate your Gundam and yourself in it just because some fossilized old fart gave you an order which, honestly, could have been interpreted in quite a few different ways."  
  
"I knew what he meant."  
  
"Hmpf."  
  
"And if I was suicidal, I wouldn't be trying to get you back to the camp."  
  
Damn, he'd said ‘you'. He didn't want Duo to get weird on him...  
  
"Well, that's just because you're stubborn, too." Duo didn't seem to have picked it up. "You wouldn't just lay down and die. When Heero Yuy goes, he has to go Boom!"  
  
"Hn." Something moved in his gut, grinding pain. Not this time, no... not with a bang but a whimper...  
  
"... you know, if it looks like they're about to capture us, I could probably wire the bike's fuel cell to blow."  
  
Heero grunted. "That might work. Think you can get enough explosive power to take us both out?"  
  
"... Heero, you blew up Wing with yourself inside it and that didn't do it. I've only got an ancient moped to work with. I'm no miracle maker."  
  
"Then why'd you mention it?"  
  
"Well, I thought it would make a nice backdrop to the finale. You ever see ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Oh we have to see that when we get back!"  
  
"When we get back." Heero said, he wanted to get off the other subject if possible.  
  
"Wow, that'll be our second date!"  
  
"Baka!"  
  
"Anyway, we'll go out guns blazing... Well, no, we don't have any. But we'll swear at them real good!"  
  
"We can't afford to be taken alive, Duo, you know that."  
  
"Oh, I trust you to come up with some novel way of getting yourself killed." The voice sounded... weary. Not bitter or condemning though.  
  
"It's better than-" ‘getting _yourself_ killed'? "How about you, you'd let them take you alive?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
"But-"  
  
"I wouldn't let them take Deathscythe, but he's not here, fortunately. As for me... well, I know I won't crack under torture, and I don't know all that much anyway. So I'll take the gamble and hope someone else, who hasn't just self-destructed, will come waltzing in to the detention centre and break me out."  
  
Heero grunted. "Winner probably would."  
  
"Oh, I was placing my bets on Wufee."  
  
Heero nearly fell off the bike again. It wobbled alarmingly and his arms trembled. "Chang?! Are you out of your mind?"  
  
"Been out of my tree for ages, you only just noticed? Who else goes on missions with Heero ‘I'm going to kill you' Yuy. Uh, maybe I'm the one who's suicidal."  
  
"Chang?!"  
  
"Hehe, you already said that. Come on, behind that angry façade, he's got a heart of chocolate caramel, all gooey and sweet."  
  
"... we _are_ talking about pilot 05... ?"  
  
"Heero did you just make a joke?!"  
  
"No, but you are."  
  
"No, no, I tell you I'm right. He's good at hiding it but he's a soft touch. Not that I ever touched him! Hehehe."  
  
"I bet you didn't."  
  
"I bet he's heard about the explosion, realized it was way too early, and is looking for us right now."  
  
Heero's head was spinning so badly the bike was wobbling, and he could no longer feel his hands. He had to constantly glance at the handle-bars to make sure they were still being gripped with steel fists. He was going into shock. Or maybe he was dying. Time was slipping by him, minutes disappearing in waves of pain getting through his control. How long had they been driving?  
  
"Hey Heero, stay with me. You have to. You're the one driving the bike."  
  
"C-could you d-drive-"  
  
"Not with my legs busted."  
  
"K'so."  
  
It would take a miracle on the magnitude of Chang looking for them to get them out alive now. Well, get him out alive. Duo would probably be okay, his voice was weak but steady, with his usual cheer. He had to get within comms range so they could pick up Duo...  
  
Why? Why was that so important?  
  
He banished that thought to the same place where the pain had finished tearing down his inner walls and had started digging holes in the foundations.  
  
"So what shall we do on our third date... "  
  
There isn't going to be a third date, Duo. There's not going to be a second one, actually, unless you prop up my corpse to look at the movie. But he couldn't say it. He remembered how Duo had screamed when he'd self-destructed. Like his soul was being torn out. Duo hated death, for all he called himself Shinigami. He didn't fear his own but that of others killed him inside. Heero wished... Heero almost wished he wasn't dying, so he didn't have to hear that scream again... Maybe if the others picked them up, they could bury him where they found him-... No, they'd try to help, and then Duo would see him die.  
  
"You're wrong, I think we're going to make it."  
  
"I know I didn't say anything!" Heero realized he had an edge of hysteria in his voice, which was getting as weak as Duo's.  
  
"You didn't have to, I'm wrapped around your shoulders and they always get that little jutted angle when you start thinking about dying. Which you do a lot, by the way."  
  
"... I... "  
  
"Yes you do. I think we're going to make it."  
  
"You're the eternal optimist."  
  
"That's why I'm planning our third date. Lemme see, we already did the romantic ride and the explosions thing, and we'll see the movie on the second date... Hmm, food!"  
  
"Figures... "  
  
"You can take me out to eat!"  
  
"If we both survive this, I'll serve you up a packet of rations... " And insanely, Heero found his face creased in a small smile.  
  
He could almost see it. It _was_ insane, it wasn't going to happen... But he could see Duo sitting up in bed, legs bandaged and himself, wounds taped up and staggering, thumping down a tray of rations on his lap and muttering ‘Here you go then.'. Now I know I'm dying. I'm hallucinating. And actually contemplating a joke.  
  
"I was thinking of something fancier, more in line with a hamburger in a grease-pit somewhere." Duo sniffed. "That's about as romantic as I'll get out of you I'm guessing."  
  
"... okay... "  
  
"... What?"  
  
"I said okay. It can't hurt." Because I won't be... he didn't want to think about it anymore. Apparently Duo could read his body language, so he couldn't afford to think about it anymore. So he'd make plans and believe in them, so that he wouldn't have to hear Duo start worrying about him.  
  
"Wow... " Duo's voice was tinged with awe, and slightly shy. "I can't believe you just said that. Maybe I should have been aiming higher than the grease-pit!"  
  
"Don't go overboard, baka."  
  
"Okay, okay, hamburgers will do. Shit!"  
  
Light up ahead...  
  
Heero didn't hesitate, turned the bike straight off the road, drove with a screech of old tires across a narrow storm drain spanning over the ditch, and plunged over the rugged field, switching off the lights.  
  
Too late.  
  
"Oh man, we're just plain out of dumb luck tonight." Duo muttered as they could hear the cars stop, doors slam and shouts echoing out. They weren't trying to follow the bike across the ditch, but he was guessing they didn't have to. They'd have reinforcements nearby. And his gun was out of commission. Damn!  
  
"How long will it take you to wire the bike, Duo?"  
  
"Erm, I was joking about that."  
  
"How long!"  
  
"Well, I don't know... let's think about that once they actually corner us, ne?"  
  
"I need to know now! I need to plan how long we have to hold them off before you can rig a self-destruct device!"  
  
"You'd just go to such extraordinary lengths to get yourself killed, you're amazing."  
  
"The mission requires that the circuits in my pack be destroyed in the event of capture." And I was probably not going to make it anyway.  
  
"I, on the other hand, will go to extraordinary lengths to get you out alive. It's the fundamental difference between us, I guess."  
  
"Just what extraordinary lengths are you talking about, baka. I'm always the one hauling you out of threatening situations."  
  
"Hmm-mm. Well, I guess that makes me motivation of a kind. Here they come. Too late for the bike."  
  
"Damn!"  
  
Mobile suits hissed over the grass as Heero banked the bike. Duo nearly fell off, his hands jerking where they were knotted in the straps of the bag, and Wing's pilot put a hand behind him to steady him. Now what? He had to get Duo out!  
  
"Just wait a sec." Duo's voice was weak, he was probably hurting bad, but he still sounded calm.  
  
"Why?" Heero grated out. If only he still had his gun.  
  
"Cause they're all heading straight for us." A whine of MS was also rising behind them. "And you know how these things show up on a Gundam's radar screen. They're pointing straight at our location."  
  
"Are you delirious?" Heero snapped. He realized he couldn't get off the bike. His legs had seized, he could barely keep upright. Here, finally, his body was letting him down.  
  
"Nope! Well, yes, probably. But not in this instance."  
  
And through the crashing surf of stuttering pulse in his ears, Heero finally heard it. The deeper whine of a Gundam engine.  
  
The first MS went up in a slash of sparks and fire.  
  
"Hm, no, that's no good." Duo quipped. "We've already had the fireworks. We don't want this date to get boring or repetitious."  
  
"I-I can't believe it... "  
  
"Now Yuy, I will drive you completely insane until I hear you say those three little words."  
  
Sometime almost like panic prickled up Heero's spine. "Th-three words?"  
  
"Yep. Seeing how it's Shenlong blowing the crap out of the MS around us,"  
  
Heero realized he was relaxing slowly. Air burned in his lungs, but he could at least give Duo this. "You were right... "  
  
"Damn right!"  
  
"I-... don't think I can walk to... "  
  
"Come on, Yuy, just a few meters. I can't do it! I'm not some kind of super perfect soldier who can walk on two broken legs!"  
  
"Hn... "  
  
"Come one, move! Oh wait. See, I told you he was all soft and chewy on the inside."  
  
Heero managed to refocus his eyes. A meter away, a gigantic hand was stretched out on the grass. He realized he was nearly collapsed on the bike handles and he must have passed out for a few minutes because all the MS were destroyed.  
  
Heero groaned and dragged out the last remaining strength he had. He gripped and lifted Duo up against his back with his right hand, letting his left arm finally go limp, at last, finally able to give into the crunch of broken bone from his elbow that he'd been denying up till then. Duo hung helplessly from the pack's straps and muttered and swore at him but he managed to carry him to the hand Shenlong was stretching out to them. How far away were they from the field hospital? It was a good thing Chang had come to pick them up. He suddenly realized that for the last thirty minutes he'd had no idea where the bike was heading. He'd just been heading away, from the explosion that had killed him, from pursuit, from the truth... Which might have cost Duo his life, he thought angrily. Heero cursed himself inwardly. There it was. In the end, he'd proven weak, fallible. He'd have given up and died thirty minutes ago if Duo's voice hadn't continued to grind on and on, dragging him back again and again.  
  
He was lying against the cold gundanium and Duo's voice was still grinding in his ear.  
  
"Heero? Heero! Damn it, don't give up on me now! We're almost there!"  
  
"... can't... "  
  
"You can and you will, damn it!"  
  
"... you'll be okay now... "  
  
"No I won't! If you die now, with your hand clasped around my ass, they'll never get us apart!"  
  
Heero blinked. And then again. He realized his right arm was still twisted behind his back to support Duo's weight, though they were both lying on their side against Shenlong's palm, and his hand was, indeed...  
  
"You know, I didn't say anything cause I know you're hurt, and just trying to help me, hell, you've been carrying me from the start, but you know, I don't normally go this far on a first date."  
  
"... baka... " He tried to loosen his arm but his muscles were only listening to the pain now, he couldn't even move.  
  
"Stay awake, Heero. And do try to move your hand. If the others find us like this the embarrassment will kill you before the shrapnel can."  
  
"... can't... move... "  
  
"Now I'm getting worried." Duo's voice was tight. No, couldn't worry Duo. Didn't want to die with that scream in his ears. Not like that.  
  
"... Duo... talk to me... "  
  
"Shit! He's delirious!"  
  
"... want to stay awake... "  
  
"Oh right. I guess my voice is the greatest aggravation you know of." But Duo spoke gently, and there was no sting to his words.  
  
"... yes... but I still... like to hear you talk... "  
  
"I know buddy. I know. We're almost there. A few more minutes and you'll have to tie him down."  
  
"... who... "  
  
"Quatre. You realize he's going to try to feed us chicken soup through a straw for the next month. Even after we're both on our feet again, I bet."  
  
Heero's lips twitched into a smile. This was okay. Fading out like this. He knew it was shock, that he had to stay awake... he now had a good chance of making it, maybe, if he didn't fade away...  
  
"Heero!"  
  
"... "  
  
"Heero, you better come back or I'm gonna start tickling you."  
  
"... "  
  
"Or groping you."  
  
"... you wouldn't... "  
  
"Heh, I'm in a good position here. And you still have your hand on my ass."  
  
"... bak... "  
  
"Heero?"  
  
There was a thunk. And hands pulling at him.  
  
"Hn!" He tried to react but nothing would move.  
  
"He's in shock!- Quick, get him- here-No!-" bursts of voices echoed around him, fading in and out. He could no longer feel the hands on him. He was floating.  
  
"Heero, snap out of it."  
  
"... don't want to... " the pain was finally gone. Not gone, no, but far away, at last.  
  
"You've got to. The colonies need you. We need you. I'll always need you to be there. Right to the end. And one day it'll be okay. Keep that in mind." The voice was finally serious. Almost. In the same way the pain was far away but still there, the jester's smile still haunted that voice. Duo could take something very seriously but still find humour in it anyway... "Come on, don't peg out now, you'll break Quatre's heart. And Sally will never forgive herself. Anyway... we got to go on that date... "  
  
At least Duo sounded okay...  
  
Heero let go.  
  
+  
  
It was only a few minutes. Only a few minutes away from the pain. And then it was back with a vengeance.  
  
"Heero!"  
  
"The morphine is kicking in now. Just give it a minute."  
  
"Shhhh." The voice was gentle. Barton. He cracked his eyes open. Trowa had his arms around Quatre who was crying like his heart was breaking, looking down at him.  
  
No, don't. I've killed so many. So many people died because of me. I don't deserve tears.  
  
"Heero? I think he's come to. This boy isn't human. Heero? It's Sally. You're badly injured but I think you can make it. I just need to you hang in there for a little while, we're fixing the damage and giving you plasma. Okay?"  
  
Sally?  
  
Quatre was still crying. Trowa's face was white and frozen. Chang was nowhere to be seen. Probably taking care of Duo.  
  
"Duo?"  
  
His voice rasped. But the pain was beginning to ebb under the trickle of the morphine.  
  
Quatre was holding his hand. Trowa glanced away, across the room. Heero let his head flop to follow his gaze. Duo was on the other bed of the makeshift field hospital. He was asleep, finally quiet, and very pale under the streaks of blood.  
  
Heero frowned. They'd not bandaged his legs yet. That was stupid. Why waste their time on Heero who still had a good chance of not making it, when Duo could bleed to death before they got to him?  
  
"Don't worry about me." He managed to rasp. "Help Duo."  
  
Quatre squeezed his hand, a smile under the tears. "In a minute, Heero. Don't worry." He whispered.  
  
Don't worry? Damn it he'd just dragged Duo across half the countryside to get him some help, with the baka whining in his ears the whole way he realized he was thinking out loud again, but it didn't matter if they heard him now so could someone at least help him?  
  
"Don't worry, Heero. You're going to be fine." Quatre looked like he was the one fatally wounded. He'd never seen the boy so pale, so hurt. I'm not worth it, Quatre.  
  
"Duo... " He gasped in agony as Sally prodded something and let the hounds of pain slip through the morphine trying to leash them down.  
  
"Sorry." She said, and he realized that tears were trickling from the eyes that were assessing him with cool professionalism.  
  
"Just take... care of Duo. He's... got broken legs and I think... something's wrong with his- " he broke off with a gasp of pain, and tried to remember where Duo had been injured, to distract himself. He'd not coughed since they'd gotten on the bike, so his lungs were probably clear.  
  
"Heero... Duo is dead."  
  
Where else had he been injured? The legs were bad, but-...  
  
What?  
  
"What?"  
  
"Duo is dead." Trowa's voice was calm, his arms around Quatre who had collapsed. "I'm sorry."  
  
Heero stared at him, then Sally. "Wh- you idiots! Start CPR! Get him-" he gasped in agony "Get him on life-support!"  
  
"Heero, he's been dead for quite a while."  
  
"... .that's not possible... "  
  
"Heero, a piece of shrapnel cut into lungs and- He must have died a few minutes after it happened."  
  
"That's not possible!"  
  
"It was very quick. Painless. " Trowa's voice was still so cold. The cold of shock. His eyes were dead as if he'd rather be than hear his own words.  
  
"That's not _possible_! He was talking to me!"  
  
"... Heero-"  
  
"He was talking to me the whole time!"  
  
"He's gone, Heero."  
  
"I carried him and he was talking to me! He kept badgering me and pushing me and- No!"  
  
He couldn't feel Sally's hands on him anymore as he sunk into the pit that was waiting for him as the truth finally crept up on him. Well... now he could really let go, it really didn't matter-  
  
_I, on the other hand, will always go to extraordinary lengths to get you out alive._  
  
But I don't want you to, Duo...  
  
_I'll always need you to be there._  
  
I don't want...  
  
_Right to the end._  
  
I... don't deserve...  
  
_I like you anyway. A lot. Keep that in mind. Keep that in mind..._  
  
I...  
  
_And one day it'll be okay. We got to go on that date..._  
  
... I'll hold you to that...  
  
_Damn right!_  
  
\- Owari-  
  
A/N: Yeah I know I said I'd never do a deathfic, but the idea came to me and just wouldn't let go. I shot the plot bunny with a buster rifle but it came back, evil dead style. I don't even think it's all that sad, somehow... (but I am one weird person... ) What was the voice Heero was listening to for the last thirty minutes? You decide...


End file.
